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Tomato Pill may Reduce Heart Disease Risk

by Rajashri on Jun 1 2009 8:20 PM

Ateronon, a tomato supplement pill, can reduce the risk of heart attacks and strokes. The pill is made by a biotechnology spin-out company of Cambridge University.

Initial trials on 150 people with heart disease indicate that the pill reduces the content of harmful fats to almost zero in the blood within 8 weeks.

However Professor Peter Weissberg of the British Heart Foundation urged caution, "As always, we caution people to wait for any new drug or modified 'natural' product to be clinically proven to offer benefits before taking it. In the meantime, our advice to heart disease patients or those at high risk is to rely on proven medications prescribed by their doctor, and aim to get the benefits of a Mediterranean diet by eating plenty of fresh fruit and veg."

The pill contains an active ingredient from tomato called lycopene. The results of the initial study will be presented a meeting of the British Cardiovascular Society.



Source-Medindia
RAS


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